Soldiers face penalties for trashing mess hall

To Thanh Ha, Globe & Mail, 16 Oct 06

MONTREAL -- They went to Alberta to prepare for their impending deployment to Afghanistan, but for 15 members of the famous Vandoos regiment, the special training trip could lead to disciplinary punishment for drunkenness and vandalism.

The soldiers are accused of wrecking the mess hall of non-commissioned officers at Camp Wainwright.

The base is home to the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, the army's new combat simulation facility.

The 15 were among a larger group of privates and corporals who last Tuesday celebrated the end of more than a month of realistic combat training before their deployment to southern Afghanistan in a few weeks.

Chairs, windows, bottles and two games tables were broken. A hole was punched into a wall.

"They had been in the field for more than a month, in a dry environment. They found themselves suddenly in a party and were fatigued," said Captain Sylvain Chalifour, an army spokesperson.

Military police sent the revellers back to their quarters and they flew out the next day to their home base.

The soldiers come from the 1st battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment, the regiment also known as the Vandoos, based at Valcartier, near Quebec City.

Some members of the 1st battalion are already in Afghanistan and the 15 are part of a group expected to join them within weeks.

A larger contingent from the regiment's 3rd battalion is scheduled to be deployed there next August.

The 15 are expected to pay for the damages made to the mess hall, Capt. Chalifour said.

In preparation for their move to Kandahar, 400 troops from Valcartier had been conducting extensive training at Wainwright this fall, in a setting that aims to replicate what they will face in Afghanistan.

Two weeks ago, Wainwright officials invited local journalists to watch a live-fire exercise involving the soldiers.